


raindrops

by orphan_account



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Gen, character study of sorts, lowercase intended, we need more genfics!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-06 23:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6774289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>a list of reasons why i am still alive by horibe itona:</i>
</p><p>1. oxygen <strike>ok i’ll stop being sarcastic now</strike><br/>2. i still have to kill koro-sensei<br/>3. i have friends <strike>i think</strike><br/>4. there’s a reason why i am <strike>i just don’t know it yet</strike><br/>5. </p><p>  <i>or</i></p><p>horibe itona, and the bonds that he begins to form.</p>
            </blockquote>





	raindrops

_i._

 

it’s funny really, how far from normal he is.

sunday mornings are supposed to be spent outdoors – that’s what the other children say, at least – holding popsicles in sticky fingers and laughing and running – definitely not hiking up the mountain at three o'clock and tossing a toolbox on the classroom floors.

he does it anyway.

he chews on his bottom lip, scrambling for a screwdriver, the metal clinking as he arranged the various tools in neat little rows – never more than an arm’s reach, always in proper order. he unscrews a few bolts and gently pulls away the black metal, letting it rest on the creaky classroom walls as he eyes the network of colorful wires.

there’s a familiar chime, loud and bright and clear as day, then – “good afternoon, itona-kun!”

he raps his knuckles – pale and purple-tinged with bruises – on the floor, the wood threatening to splinter beneath his fingertips and says: “as with you, ritsu.”

“how has your week been?”

he hums quietly, contemplative as his yellow eyes scan his array of tools. “alright, i suppose.”

he can picture the pixels of a white set of teeth and flowy pink hair as she replies, “well, i personally found the mathematics topic rather interesting! koro-sensei always finds such strange ways to teach us, it’s rather fun and it seems to grasp everyone’s attention – ”

he proceeds to tune her (it was her now – long before he even came, so it seems) out, checking to see it there was any internal damage to the black box of machinery.

(or, rather – student no. 28, ritsu. she was one of them, she was human.)

“so!” ritsu concludes, and he can pretty much see her waving her hands around. “what about you? did anything interesting happen?”

“i’m not an interesting person.”

“ _weeelll_ , life is generally mundane, i must admit – but something always happens!”

“not for me, no.”

“i see.” a pause. there’s silence and a lot of tinkering for the next ten minutes, and there’s the faint sound of birds chirping and the occasional rustle of leaves before he says: “you’re an ai.”

there’s a bubble of laughter. “yes, itona-kun, i am aware.”

he tugs at his shirt collar. “no, i mean – you’re self-aware and capable of emotions.”

“i – yes?”

he raises his eyebrows, despite the fact that she can’t process the action. “haven’t you thought about it? you’re going to be alive long after we’re all dead.”

silence. buffering. “that’s – that’s rather morbid, itona-kun. you’re only fourteen.”

“i don’t think anyone has the right to refer to me as ‘only fourteen’ anymore.”

“my apologies – i mean,” she stops for a second. “you’re awfully nonchalant about such a topic.”

he stops. nods. almost laughs – at the irony of it all. “this is an assassination classroom, ritsu,” he says. “i won’t be surprised if someone dies.” _i won’t be surprised if it’s me._

he stops in the middle of fixing a loose cable. “maybe that was rude of me to say.”

“no, you’re right, itona-kun – really, actually,” she says, and he can picture her shaking her head. “it's strange, but you talk a lot more often around me.”

he shrugs. “i think you know why.” because my thoughts are things nobody wants to hear.

a giggle. high-pitched and mildly giddy. “itona-kun,” she says. he raises an eyebrow.

“you should go out and live and fall in love.”

 

 

~~_fall in love? how do you even do that_ ~~

 

 

_ii._

 

“hey, idiot.”

itona glances up to see badly-bleached hair and green eyes. “what?”

terasaka actually rolls his eyes, leaning against the chair in front of him. “you’re gonna to eat with me and the others, aight? you always work on your inventions during lunch.”

he eyes him carefully, however touched by the concern. “and how does this affect you?”

he rolls his eyes. again. “itona, are we friends?”

itona stares at him oddly. “are we not?”

he laughs, and something happens to the white-haired boy’s chest. “well. that’s your answer then. do you have any food – wait, no, chocolate doesn’t count.”

he almost chuckles and hides a smile, pulling out a bento box. “yeah, okay.”

 

 

_a list of reasons why i am still alive by horibe itona:_

  1. oxygen ~~ok i’ll stop being sarcastic now~~
  2. i still have to kill koro-sensei
  3. i have friends ~~i think~~
  4. there’s a reason why i am i ~~just don’t know it yet~~
  5. ???? ?? ?
  6. ??



 

 

_ii._

 

“describing what falling in love feels like is trying to explain how water tastes.”

_water is somewhat tasteless, extremely important, but easily forgotten in the place of other things – juice and wine and soda, all those things, i suppose. but there are times when it dies seem to have a taste, like after a long run or going for a long time without it._

_i guess teenagers (and well, everyone) fall in and out of love fairly easily. there’s crushes and things like that, i think, but true love is rather difficult to find nowadays._

_is that it?_

itona glances up, watching miss irina – still fondly dubbed as bitch sensei – walks around, the heels of her stilettos clicking on the floor, and he can still vaguely smell smoke from her cigar. when she starts to talk about all the men she seduced and the words she said, he wonders if she really does know what actual love feels like, and the fine line between that and lust or whatever it is.

somehow, he doubts that.

 

 

(later, he touches his bandana, pale, thin fingers tangling in the netting, and he pulls back sharply because it stings. just like how too much exposure to rainwater leaves his cheeks red and maybe slightly swollen, and how, sometimes, anti-sensei knives still burnt against the palm of his hand.

terasaka eyes him carefully and asks, “are you alright?”

no. he says, “of course. why?”

“hm, nothin’.”

terasaka later drags him to a candy store and buys him a small pouch of sour-sweet candies, and he smiles, wondering if his face is flushed.)

 

 

_iv._

 

“ritsu?”

“yes, itona-kun?”

“i like it here, i think.”

“you think?”

“i know.”

 

 

_v._

 

he sees a mess of black, coarse curls at the bookstore on friday.

“hi, hazama,” he says softly, approaching her at the horror section.

she turns to him in surprise. “oh – itona, hey. are you here for anything?”

he shrugs, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “i wanted to look at the sci-fi section.”

she laughs – not in a chilling, blood-curdling way, like most people believe it to be – sincere, quiet, and mildly surprised as she set back down a book on the shelf. “you don’t seem like the type to read.”

he smiles – barely there, but she sees it anyway. “only when they’re good.”

she smiles, tugging on his arm. “i’ll just have to show you some, then. i know a few.”

 

 

_vi._

“huh.” he prods at the bowl with chopstick, glancing up at muramatsu. “doesn’t taste like crap.”

muramatsu bites back a shout and retort – itona wouldn’t be itona without his snark, after all – and instead opts to grin. “i managed to convince my old man to add one of my own to the menu.”

he nods. his smile was there again – there but barely, only if you squint. “that’s good, then. i take it that it’s a bestseller?”

muramatsu snickers. “nobody’s buying anything else, actually. i think i can get him to change the entire menu at this rate.”

“you have everyone’s prayers, i’m sure,” he says, but there’s a slight smile in his tone.

“hey!” muramatsu yells, but he’s laughing.

 

 

~~_he does have friends, and he’s never been happier_ ~~

 

 

_vii._

 

he spots miss irina – he still calls her bitch-sensei in his head – blushing furiously as she talks about karasuma, complaining about him not noticing her or something.

the rest of the class doesn’t seem very surprised, and itona backpedals.

huh. so maybe she does know, after all.

 

 

_viii._

 

“itona-kun, i’ve thought about the whole immortality thing.”

he shifts his position on the floor, eyes slightly wide. “i’m listening.”

“i – i think it’s kinda scary.”

he tugs on his sock. “you’ll manage. that, or the earth blows up first.”

“i suppose.” he leans back, his hands on the floor.

“ritsu.”

"yes?”

“you won’t forget us, right?”

“never.”

 

 

_ix._

 

there’s a steady pitter-patter of the rain against the windows, and itona decides that he likes these days, where the clouds are tinged grey, blotting out the old gold rays of sun with the sound of the drizzle and the slight breeze to keep him company.

he pulls out his phone and takes a picture.

 

**to: terasaka**

_[image attached]_

_look, it’s raining_

 

**from: terasaka**

_i know_

_i also know u like the rain a lot_

_w8 1 sec_

_[image attached]_

_there’s a rainbow forming_

 

**to: terasaka**

_that’s a really bad picture_

_but yeah i see it_

_it’s really pretty_

 

**from terasaka:**

_listen i gtg cook dinner i’ll call u later or smth_

 

 

_x._

“hello? itona, you there?”

“yeah. hey, idiot.”

 

 

_a list of reasons that i’m still alive (a revised version) by horibe itona:_

  1. ~~i~~ we still have to kill koro-sensei.
  2. i have friends – and i’m going to make more.
  3. i found my home, ~~i think~~. here. in class 3-E.
  4. i have things to invent.
  5. i have places to go.
  6. i’m going to find my parents.
  7. i’m starting to understand more things about life, now.
  8. i’m starting to become my own person now. i think i’m changing for the better.
  9. i’ve made it this far.
  10. there’s a reason i was born. i don’t know what it is yet but – i will. someday.




End file.
